Preindustrial cities made punitive justice an open public spectacle

Evidence

You turn a corner and are struck with a sight repulsive to your modern eyes: a man has been nailed by his ear to a door. Upon inquiry, you discover that this is his punishment for cheating his customers. He is a merchant and he has been nailed to the door of his own establishment. Now a huge cry attracts your attention and you turn another corner to discover three people, stripped naked, being driven through the streets with whips and brushes. Later, at the outskirts of the city, you see the remains of bodies hanging in chains in some sort of elevated cage. One or two of the chains support whole bodies; from the rest, hang only “quarters.” — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 162

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the sacrifice/execution theme and to the reader’s interest in how pre-modern public order was enforced visibly where modern order relies on anonymity. — connects to: Urbanization drove executions out of public view into prisons — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1663; Trials served as public entertainment before broadcast media existed — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1863